THE STATE OF your hamstrings determines more about your body’s condition than you might expect. Back pain, hip mobility, and even posture can all be affected by the tightness of these powerful muscles.

“Tight hamstrings affect much more than your ability to touch your toes. Tightness in the hamstrings can pull the pelvis into a posterior pelvic tilt, which flexes your lumbar spine into positions of increased postural stress,” says Brett Warner, P.T., D.P.T., C.S.C.S. of Bespoke Treatments. “This can contribute to acute and chronic back pain, making activities like sitting at a desk or changing positions more painful.”

Mobility is key for you overall quality of life. If you spend most of your day in a seated position, however, you might struggle to stay limber. If you’re tied to a chair most of the day, it would benefit you, your back, and your hips to spend some time stretching your hamstrings. Even if you’re active, you’ll see benefits—limited hamstring flexibility can increase the risk of injury in runners and athletes, too.

Luckily, a few minutes is all it takes to give your hamstrings some attention. Here, Warner and Sam Becourtney, PT, DPT, C.S.C.S., joined by Vaughn Gray, NASM-CPT, share a handful of exercises to pepper into your routine to release those tight hamstrings.

What Are Your Hamstring Muscles

First, a brief primer on what your hamstrings are, exactly. “Your hamstring is this actual group of muscles in the back of your thigh that serve two functions: to extend the hip reaching backwards and also to bend the knee," explains Becourtney. "It originates in the back deep behind that butt muscle, and it’s going to insert below the knee, which is why it has those two functions based on its attachment points.”

Those functions means that your hamstrings are extremely important for all sorts of movements, from running and jumping to walking and squatting. You use the muscles for lots of lower body exercises—so it's easy to take their functions for granted.

Who Can Benefit From Hamstring Stretches

The groups of people who might want to check out these stretches aren't limited to those with lower body tightness. People with low back pain, in particular, can benefit from hamstring stretches.

“The reason for that is because hamstring tightness can limit your ability to bend forward and sort of present itself as low back pain, even though the source is coming from that hamstring tightness,” says Becourtney. “Similarly, anyone who has limitation bending forward or might need to do that for part of their day-to-day function, would benefit from improving the mobility and flexibility of those hamstrings."

Why You Should Stretch Your Hamstrings

Yes, there are specific populations that might benefit more from hamstring stretches—namely, those who are already dealing with tight hamstrings and low back pain—but hamstring flexibility is important for everyone.

“The importance of those stretches and hamstring flexibility in general, is because tightness there can present itself in a multitude of ways," says Becourtney. "One being low back pain, as we spoke about, one being inability to bend forward. So, it's really important to improve that flexibility.” Along with addressing these issues, improved hamstring flexibility can pay off in the form of improved performance, which can be helpful for everyone from athletes to everyday folks who want to feel good when they move.

Hamstring Stretches to Improve Flexibility

Hamstring Scoop

You can use this movement either before or after a workout, according to Becourtney.

How to Do It:

• In a standing position, bring one foot in front of the other with the heel on the floor and the toes up.
• Sit your butt back as you reach your hands down, "scooping" the floor, then stand back up.
• If you’re doing this pre-workout, hold for two to three seconds each time. Repeat five to 10 reps for a dynamic stretch.
• If you’re doing this move post-workout, hold at the bottom for 30 seconds, two to three times. The lower you go, the more you’ll feel the hamstring stretch.

Hamstring Flossing

You'll get on the floor for the next movement. Again, you can do this movement before or after exercise.

How to Do It:

• Lie on your back and grab one thigh behind your knee with both hands, creating a 90-degree bend relative to your torso. Make sure that opposite leg is straight to increase the stretch.
• Straighten your raised leg and then bring it back down. Repeat the movement deliberately. If you want to increase the stretch at the top, point your toes down towards yourself for more of an upper calf stretch there, suggests Becourtney.
• If you're doing this stretch before exercise as a dynamic movement, do three rounds of five to 10 reps, two to three seconds per set.
• If you're doing it after exercise, hold the position as you work on your breathing, bringing your toes down and holding the static stretch for 30 seconds at a time for two-to-three rounds.

Lying Hamstring Stretch with Towel

For this exercise, grab a towel, belt, or yoga strap. “Anything that's gonna be long enough to reach behind your foot,” says Becourtney.

How to Do It:

• Lie on your back with one knee bent towards your chest and bring the towel or other implement behind that foot.
• From this position, try to straighten out your leg. “Now he's using his arms to pull down on that leg, increasing the stretch he's feeling there,” notes Becourtney. “If you want push more through the toes towards his head, that will give him a little bit more of that upper calf stretch.
• If it's too intense on the lower back or the hamstring bend the knee that’s extended straight on the floor since “that would take a little bit of the pressure off of that area," according to Becourtney.
• Pre-workout, do this exercise for 10 seconds at a time for up to six reps.
• Post-exercise, do a longer hold of 30-to-45 seconds two to three times.

Assisted Sitting Stretch

You'll keep using the pulling implement for this final stretch, but you'll sit up.

• Get in long sitting position on the floor (butt on the ground, legs extended out in front of you) with your chest upright and the towel or strap wrapped around one foot.
• As you pull the foot under the towel or strap towards you, lean your trunk forward. “That's going to increase the stretch through that hamstring… because of where it attaches behind the hip there,” says Becourtney.
• Come back up to your original position and repeat. (Like in the last move, if the stretch is too intense, bend the opposite knee to take some pressure off of your lower back.)
• Before exercise, get in and out of that position in two to three seconds a time for 10 reps.
• Post-workout hold this position for 30 seconds, for two to three rounds, being sure to breathe deeply.

Standing Hamstring Stretch with Flat Foot

Some stretches place tension along the sciatic nerve, causing discomfort or pain, Warner says. That’s especially true with those experiencing sciatica or low back pain. Adding in a small step underneath your stretched leg will help relieve some of this tension.

“You’ll feel the stretch through the belly of the hamstring, with less sharpness behind the knee,” he says.

How to Do It:

• Stand and place your foot on an elevated surface such as a small box, step stool, or stair. Make sure your foot is flat on the stool.
• Carefully hinge your hips by pushing your bottom straight back behind you. Maintain a flat back as you tilt your chest forward.
• Continue until you feel a strong stretch in the back of the thigh. Hold for 30 seconds, 3 times per leg.

Half Kneeling Dynamic Hamstring Stretch

This hamstring stretch can be a great addition to your warm up, or in a mobility flow post workout, Warner says. Plus, you can do it anywhere.

How to Do It:

• Start kneeling on one knee, with your other foot placed in front of you.
• Slowly rock your hips backward while straightening the knee of your forward leg, until you feel a strong stretch in the back of the thigh. Pause before returning to the starting position.
• Perform 8 to 10 reps on each side. If incorporating it as a stretch after exercise, hold the position for 30 seconds 2 to 3 times per leg.

If you want to take the benefits of these stretches even further, Becourtney notes that you can follow up some of those stretches with loaded strength training exercises. Romanian deadlifts with a kettlebell or dumbbell can reinforce that new range of motion. That's going to help create a more lasting effect as you move forward, which will help with your ability to reach down, improved performance in the weight room and in sports, and an overall decrease in pain in the surrounding areas.

For more advice from physical therapists to help you move and feel better, check out all of our guides in The Fix series.